Recent highlights

Last night the boys slept for 12 hours. Theo was up a few times with general moan-y-ness but Beck slept for 12+ hours straight. They sure needed it. This morning they were driving me nuts by 9am but then we went to the grocery store and they charmed everyone, and then we went to story hour at the Onondaga Hill library and they loved the stories and games, and then played at the library until we came home for lunch. Quiet time lasted about an hour and a half and was mostly quiet, though no sleeping, aided somewhat by listening to a Curious George story on CD (thanks Auntie Alexis!).

Some of my favorite new sayings they have:
"I like Mommy/Daddy/Grandma/Grandpa"
"Not right now"
"In a few minutes"
"Oh mercy"
"Oh man"
"Do Beckett (or Theo, whichever is the "other" brother) first!" (when asked to brush teeth, go potty, etc)
"Good morning!"

I was interested to see how they would do with story time at the library, because it's the closest thing to school (surrounded by strange kids and led by a strange adult) that they have ever experienced. Beckett stuck close to me, sitting in my lap for the first few minutes, but Theo was happy to sit in a chair just the right size for him. He also called out the answers more than most of the other kids, loudly and clearly. The lady next to me noted that he seemed to especially like yelling out "yellow" (today's story time theme was colors). Both of them needed no prodding to participate in the games and though there wasn't much opportunity for interaction with other kids during the class, afterward they shared books with other kids and played with the same toy together interactively with a few of the kids closest to their size/age. There are times when I wish that they could be in more of a structured care situation at least some of the time, because I think they would learn new things, but it's just not workable with my work schedule. I am super lucky to have Mindy across the street to work a very flexible schedule for us, and that the boys completely adore her. I just can't commit to a particular schedule on a weekly basis (except every Thursday, for Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu) because in the courts where I appear, different things happen only on certain days. So I have to be available some Mondays, because that's when motion term is, and some Tuesdays, because that's when court conferences are, and some Wednesdays because that's when our office staff meetings are. And then some courts schedule judge conferences Friday mornings. I hope that someday we can get them in some kind of nursery school, even if it means they are there when I am not working sometimes, but in the meantime I think we'll try to keep going back to story time at the library as much as we can.